iPhone 4 owners who filed claims over the so-called "antennagate" have begun receiving their settlement checks. Posts about the checks began popping up on Twitter in addition to sites like 9to5Mac, where several readers confirmed they had received their $15 payouts.
The iPhone 4 was released in July of 2010 and was immediately met with controversy over its "work of genius" antenna design. Unlike previous in iPhones, Apple had designed the iPhone 4 so the stainless steel bezel on the outside of the phone would act as antennas for Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and cellular. But a weak spot was discovered by users who bridged the gap between two antenna segments with their hand while using the device—when held like this, many users observed a drop in the cell signal, and some reported an increase in dropped calls.
Apple did not react well at first—at least from a PR standpoint. Then-CEO Steve Jobs responded to an e-mail from Ars in 2010 saying users should "just avoid holding it in this way." Then the company held a special event in Cupertino for the sole purpose of showing that competitors' devices had the same issue—an odd move for Apple, which typically doesn't offer public responses about product issues. The company later agreed to give free iPhone 4 bumpers (or an equivalent case from another manufacturer) to iPhone 4 owners, but it wasn't enough to quell the uproar, and a series of class action lawsuits followed.
Those cases were eventually rolled into one and settled in February of last year—nearly two iPhone introductions later. Affected users were encouraged to submit a claim for either another free iPhone 4 bumper or a $15 settlement check. Now, more than a year later, those checks are being sent out, as evidenced by the photos being posted online. Have any Ars readers received their $15 from Apple yet?
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